Back in service we drop the tents, and make sure things are ready for the morning. The Service team will have their early day tomorrow, as Tech Inspection is 7am for our car.

Off to bed... for some of us. Gord and no doubt all the other co drivers are still up, pouring over the notes. I can remember watching Clarke and Tim at a big dining table in Clermont one year, till the wee hours... It's a thankless part of the job, and an essential component of the teamwork. One bad note can have a result that no one wants.

Here's hoping we're tired enough for a solid nights sleep.......

_________________"Nos Ludos Intra Vehicula"

"That is on the floor..... in fifth..... 6500????..." -Buffum to Smith (140mph+, Rallye Charlevoix.....)

"A HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FIVE DOLLARS????"

"Great, now we're gonna get frikken' yelled at.....""Let the record show that the evening degenerated at 2022hrs..... Duly noted..."

"Where are the Suburban keys? We'll just take them out of the back......"

There had been a discussion about lights the evening before, but the rain kinda dampened things.... (ha)

Cal and James have wisely decided to have them on and tested at tech to avoid later questions, but they are currently hidden in the tow vehicle. Good times. I grab another hour of snooze time, and decide that I may as well get up. Coffee is the first priority, and soon the rest of the house is up and at 'em.

Stuffed full of food and coffee, we load ourselves into vehicles for the trip in to town. There is something about driving a road vehicle while dressed in full nomex. Maybe it's something that would catch on with the tuner kids.... Old Williams suits in a Honda Civic perhaps....

The car is in Parc Ferme, and you cannot touch, look, or otherwise engage with it. You drive right out of Tech into a closed paddock. Pretty neat setup, and prevents fiddling I suppose.

We get service geared up, and head on over for the start and drivers meeting.

On the way over to the drivers meeting, I find my second can of synthetic energy formula. This one has a lovely shade of red, somewhere between ATF, and Ratheon Missle Fuel........

_________________"Nos Ludos Intra Vehicula"

"That is on the floor..... in fifth..... 6500????..." -Buffum to Smith (140mph+, Rallye Charlevoix.....)

"A HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FIVE DOLLARS????"

"Great, now we're gonna get frikken' yelled at.....""Let the record show that the evening degenerated at 2022hrs..... Duly noted..."

We chit chat with some folks we know, admire the exceptional builds of some cars, and generally try and stay hydrated in the heat.

I have consumed most of my Raytheon Fuel additive, and am at that nice balance of heart palipetations and pure focus. Also starting to fear this is not a sound strategy. Gord is on his Second Red Bull. The notes will be crisp I predict.

Tick one for the bucket list, as Mark Marti is 20 feet away at the drivers meeting. Didn't think I'd have ex WRC CoDrivers in the same room as me....... Terry Epp does the brief for those who's first time at Baie it is. He's straight forward, and tries to drive home the sentiment that a finish is a win here, it is not a short event.

Things are starting to feel very very real. We are now allowed into Parc Ferme with 30min until car 0. Bathroom break for the last time and then things get serious......... We are out at 1240hrs.

_________________"Nos Ludos Intra Vehicula"

"That is on the floor..... in fifth..... 6500????..." -Buffum to Smith (140mph+, Rallye Charlevoix.....)

"A HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FIVE DOLLARS????"

"Great, now we're gonna get frikken' yelled at.....""Let the record show that the evening degenerated at 2022hrs..... Duly noted..."

Time in stage rally is fairly straight forward, but it's still math. Be where you need to be at the time you need to be there. You can still make a mental math error.

Gord has come up with a neat app that allows us to track these times. It gives me just enough info to say you have MM:SS to arrive at stage start. The Rally Odo lets us know how far we are from the stage start.

Big Brother is watching, and Cdnrally.com provides a constant update of all car locations, speeds etc. Do not speed on transit, stay within your time, it's all good in theory.

It's a nice day at this point, good day for a drive in the country...... Which we will do. With belts snugged down, and HANS, COMMS, and odo's checked and re checked, we roll into Eoleville, ready to go. They check our timecard, and we stage up to the lights.

The National series uses the RSO rally timing system. Picture fancy lights, that show red at 15sec out, Yellow and Red at 10sec, and a Yellow countdown in segments for the final 5 sec. When the clock hit's your 0 time, it turns green......

_________________"Nos Ludos Intra Vehicula"

"That is on the floor..... in fifth..... 6500????..." -Buffum to Smith (140mph+, Rallye Charlevoix.....)

"A HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FIVE DOLLARS????"

"Great, now we're gonna get frikken' yelled at.....""Let the record show that the evening degenerated at 2022hrs..... Duly noted..."

They say a picture is worth a thousand words.... I'm not sure how many words a video is worth, but it tells a far better tale than I can. (Eoleville pass 2)

Like most big events, stages are used multiple times. We will do a loop, of Eoleville, Le JAZ 27-41, and Le Douxbiro. We then head back to service and do all three again in that order. It'll total us near 170km, about half that is transit. We've done fuel calculations at 10L/100km on transit, and 20L on stages. Here's hoping.....

Eoleville starts at a Hydro Quebec Wind Farm, and winds it's way down the side of a valley, then back up, then down.... you get the idea. 3's are not to be triffled with, but almost anything could bite you. There are clusters of spectators in parts of the wood you might not even find on a regular day. It's what makes this event legendary.....

_________________"Nos Ludos Intra Vehicula"

"That is on the floor..... in fifth..... 6500????..." -Buffum to Smith (140mph+, Rallye Charlevoix.....)

"A HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FIVE DOLLARS????"

"Great, now we're gonna get frikken' yelled at.....""Let the record show that the evening degenerated at 2022hrs..... Duly noted..."

Out of the woods, and on to the next one.... The roads are still gravel, but fairly well kept and wide.

I'm listening for sounds, and giving a shake here and there to see if anything is loose. I can't find anything.....

We arrive with enough time to get out and stretch. I want to check pressures. I'm going back to what we researched on the Maxxis, and some sage wisdom from our friend Quigley. I figured we'd be a bit high, and we are. Bring 'em down, and lets see if it looks up in a similar fashion......

JAZ is next. It's the longest stage we've ever done at 25km. How long can a mind focus? Yeah, those WRC guys can do it for almost an hour, but random east coasters? Will I Squirrel out on the whole thing? Make an error? Mis hear a note? The Late great McRae lost a championship with that once...... (yeah, he was going faster... )

_________________"Nos Ludos Intra Vehicula"

"That is on the floor..... in fifth..... 6500????..." -Buffum to Smith (140mph+, Rallye Charlevoix.....)

"A HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FIVE DOLLARS????"

"Great, now we're gonna get frikken' yelled at.....""Let the record show that the evening degenerated at 2022hrs..... Duly noted..."

After our launch into JAZ, we are not long in finding out how true that can be. Our friend Chris Greenhouse is off the road, drivers right, on a burm. They are out of the car, all safety proceedures in order, and we carry on. This serves as a warning to us. The event is long, and deserves it's reputation.

(we would later find Chris had suffered from a brake problem, and that took him off the road. Damage was too great to repair)

The notes are workings. I'm almost a bit surprised, but they are working, and fairly well! Jon has been seeded behind us. Jon is always fast, faster than us, and we are starting only a minute apart. Over 25km it is likely he'll catch us. I make repeated checks of the mirror.

New tires and good braking solutions are proving very useful, and I'm pushing deep into the corners. The car is feeling very good, but this stage is rough, and we need to be wary.

We will pass another 5 cars off in the stage. A wake up call if you ever needed one.

One the run down the side of the valley near the stage end, there is a 350 to flying finish over crest 500....... F1 commentators years ago used the term "Testicular Fortitude". I'm not Marquez, Rossi, Vattinen or Rohl, but I do my best to listen to the guy on the right shoulder, and keep it as flat as I can in the run up to the boards...... I would be terrified in the other seat I'm sure, but Gord does nothing but read the notes, at the correct timings....... Must be the Red Bull.....

Our runout at the stage end brings us into time control with our friends Cindy Max and Felix. Lots of smiles and good natured ribbing.... I see Jonathans dust as he rolls up behind us into the time control, but not on stage.

For a guy I've chased for 5 years, I'll take that one as a win....

_________________"Nos Ludos Intra Vehicula"

"That is on the floor..... in fifth..... 6500????..." -Buffum to Smith (140mph+, Rallye Charlevoix.....)

"A HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FIVE DOLLARS????"

"Great, now we're gonna get frikken' yelled at.....""Let the record show that the evening degenerated at 2022hrs..... Duly noted..."

We've only got one more to go before service, and service we need. It only takes about 100meters out of time control we can hear something at the back of the car. Seems right rear.....

We make our transit, things not really changing much, other than sounds creating doubt in our minds..... This one is going to be a doozie. Douxbiro is fast and wide, with some very technical side sections to get the average speeds down. There is also a slalom in the middle. The slalom section is made of 55gal size orange barrels. While the penalty on the clock is 15sec, you likely will also need a fender and light bucket. This should be fun!

The new Helmet and intercom is proving well worth it. I can now almost consume gatoraid with my balaclava pulled down.......

_________________"Nos Ludos Intra Vehicula"

"That is on the floor..... in fifth..... 6500????..." -Buffum to Smith (140mph+, Rallye Charlevoix.....)

"A HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FIVE DOLLARS????"

"Great, now we're gonna get frikken' yelled at.....""Let the record show that the evening degenerated at 2022hrs..... Duly noted..."

The launch uphill into Douxbiro is long and wide. It's a runout of the first four gears for us.... I'm left wondering what some of the higher power cars can do climbing a grade like this.

It's an odd sensation to have so much room on a stage to move about. You like the runoff, but you also do not want to be out of the line, or the loose stuff will turn your day quickly....

There is a R1 off road down into a valley section. It's recently been logged, and it's tight. Neat little change of pace. The organizers finish it with R3 onto Hwy. It's wide enough for sure.

The next few km are wide and flat open as well. We'll see some serious speed here, before moving into some slower sections. There is also an interesting bridge, with a culvert right before it. Certainly worth noting, as it could really upset the car.

Another section takes us off into an ATV trail wide part. Tight, technical, and some rain wash that could really ruin your day. One more section of wide and open over a very sizable bridge, and we're at the finish..... Lots of runout, and we end up on the Petit Caspicadia river, for the drive back to service......

Our clunk was subdued on the stage, but we should check that. The car felt planted, so it couldn't have been too serious. Perhaps a sway bar link......

_________________"Nos Ludos Intra Vehicula"

"That is on the floor..... in fifth..... 6500????..." -Buffum to Smith (140mph+, Rallye Charlevoix.....)

"A HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FIVE DOLLARS????"

"Great, now we're gonna get frikken' yelled at.....""Let the record show that the evening degenerated at 2022hrs..... Duly noted..."

In the queue for our minute it, we're tended to by two of the hundreds of volunteers who make this thing work. We await our minute, and roll up to them. They'll take our time card for this loop, and present us with another for the next loop.

There will be a reseed on our way out, to sort the cars that have proven to be faster than us, and get them up the order. I can then stop watching my mirrors for that pesky Jon Character.....

Through TC and into our row, James is in the roadway, signaling our spot in. We'll get the beast parked right under our tents, and try to make it look professional.....

_________________"Nos Ludos Intra Vehicula"

"That is on the floor..... in fifth..... 6500????..." -Buffum to Smith (140mph+, Rallye Charlevoix.....)

"A HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FIVE DOLLARS????"

"Great, now we're gonna get frikken' yelled at.....""Let the record show that the evening degenerated at 2022hrs..... Duly noted..."

With the car up on stands, I head around to the right rear to take a peek. I just a curious sort of person and can't help myself. Cal and James are already on the car checking things.

As I look up from the bottom, I can see clear sun through the top of the strut tower. It takes a minute for my upside down brain to figure out what is going on......The upper mount has separated, allowing the right rear to float inside the strut tower. With great luck, the rear geometry on the GC8 does not allow the strut to have enough movement to escape the tower, even at full droop. I shudder for a minute as I review the mental footage from Duxebrio, including the Vmax from the data log......

Cal and James move their focus, and I just stand back. They know the job better than I likely, and are hard core into it. I stuff some sort of food into myself, and check under hood fluids. The reality at this point is, all other considerations are secondary. The loudest clunk gets the effort. Rallycars really should have four corners on them.....

Gord and I, with the help of James, Cal and others have put together a prep and spares package that we feel should work. Part of that was a spare set of DT-1's. We are now using spares. This is service #1. There are 4 service stops. We hope for a change in rate of consumables.

Daph is talking with Gord. No doubt checking some things we had questions on. Our fuel stop is in a fire protected area, as it is at all larger events. It effectively becomes part of our transit, but with time added. Our new fueling jugs are going to help with that. Thanks Lucas!

_________________"Nos Ludos Intra Vehicula"

"That is on the floor..... in fifth..... 6500????..." -Buffum to Smith (140mph+, Rallye Charlevoix.....)

"A HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FIVE DOLLARS????"

"Great, now we're gonna get frikken' yelled at.....""Let the record show that the evening degenerated at 2022hrs..... Duly noted..."

We are running out of minutes on our service clock. We are fed to some degree, watered, outhoused, and otherwise replenished.

Best of all, we now have four corners on the car. Back into the car, we roll to the time control. There is a bit of a line, but we all filter into where we need to be.

With the reseed acted on, we are not in the same order. Into fueling, and Cal James and Daph set to work fueling the car. We take our forecast 30l, and that seems to put us where we started the day, so we should be good for a similar loop.

Off into the wilderness, and onto the start of Eoleville we go. One of the real joys of the transit is the kids who have gathered at the end of their driveways to watch the cars pass. Spectators on a transit just makes you feel special.

Our reseed times have an uncertainty we were warned about, so we simply roll right in. The stage crews ask if we are ready to go, a quick tug on belts and HANS posts gives a yes, and we roll up to the lights.

27 seconds is a good mental prep time for a stage start I guess......

_________________"Nos Ludos Intra Vehicula"

"That is on the floor..... in fifth..... 6500????..." -Buffum to Smith (140mph+, Rallye Charlevoix.....)

"A HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FIVE DOLLARS????"

"Great, now we're gonna get frikken' yelled at.....""Let the record show that the evening degenerated at 2022hrs..... Duly noted..."

The car is working very well again, and we're having a good go with the notes.

The spectator areas have grown significantly, and it is quite the feeling to break a treeline at the top of 4th, into a down hill 400, to double caution..... with grandstands...... why grandstands? Well a downhill double caution is where the show will be, yes?

We keep it as tidy as we can, the last mud puddles are drying, and we even managed to get the car to rotate on one of the few pavement sections of the rally....

With a good stage in the books, and near half a km to the flying finish, I'm feeling like pushing right to the end, get as much time as we can over the boards...... And it's there that I make my first big mistake of the day.

Gord called it, and I heard it, but I just didn't process it quite as on the first pass, perhaps I set the car up too far left.... The dip is near equal with the finish board, and as Conrad later said, "ah, no man, you gotta brake for that it's big!"

Thanks Jon, great newsflash.

The impact hammers the front left, likely to full compression and skid plate. Gord and I are fine, but there are some new rattles. Feeling very sheepish about it, we move our grazing to the second pass of JAZ, happy with the knowedge that we did take time off our first run, at a cost.........

_________________"Nos Ludos Intra Vehicula"

"That is on the floor..... in fifth..... 6500????..." -Buffum to Smith (140mph+, Rallye Charlevoix.....)

"A HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FIVE DOLLARS????"

"Great, now we're gonna get frikken' yelled at.....""Let the record show that the evening degenerated at 2022hrs..... Duly noted..."

It's unfortunate to see trucks and trailers at stage starts, waiting. It means someones day has not gone well, and in some cases, might be over. We don't focus on it, but share a thought having been there.....

There are some wonderful sections in this stage, that just let you drift wide and use full road width.... and then there are tight sections that could cause grief. It's that balancing act, that makes this a true sport...

The car is a bit off on transit... just a bit of a pull for some reason. Could be so many things, moved alignment, bent something..... or my brain. This transit it quiet, rural, and gives a chance to try and get some fluid back into a person.....

_________________"Nos Ludos Intra Vehicula"

"That is on the floor..... in fifth..... 6500????..." -Buffum to Smith (140mph+, Rallye Charlevoix.....)

"A HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FIVE DOLLARS????"

"Great, now we're gonna get frikken' yelled at.....""Let the record show that the evening degenerated at 2022hrs..... Duly noted..."

Our next pass of Douxbiro is quite satisfying in some ways. Notes are working with some commitment, and the car is staying quite planted in the corners, with some exceptions. Only one pants soiling L5 would rear it's head and we somehow got it back. Pulse rate did increase.

At the raised culvert bridge that we have in our notes, we come upon a Triangle... another car off. McNicoll and Guite have have a very large incident. Just a bit off line perhaps, and the culvert bit them in a very large way. To say the least, the car was damaged and they are out. (they would be fine, and we met them later in service.)

Gord and I are pretty quiet after passing their incident, save for stage notes. Bit of a wake up.

We are done with these stages this leg. We now move to the evening and night ones, with the famous party at Camp Brule........

Transiting back to service, the car is mostly tracking straight..... mostly.......

_________________"Nos Ludos Intra Vehicula"

"That is on the floor..... in fifth..... 6500????..." -Buffum to Smith (140mph+, Rallye Charlevoix.....)

"A HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FIVE DOLLARS????"

"Great, now we're gonna get frikken' yelled at.....""Let the record show that the evening degenerated at 2022hrs..... Duly noted..."

Hotbits have been very good to us for an entry level rally suspension. All of us in our service area run them, this is the first broken spring any of us have seen. After Airport Sprint, we borrowed a set from Cal for Baie. The spares we borrowed from Cal, are just a little different, with spherical bearing topmounts....

We have concerns about the rest of the event now... It's at this junction, that James plainly tells us to go away. And he's right. We have food to eat, fluid to intake, and two very competent Subaru guys who now have to build a corner assembly from all the spare parts we have. But there is good news in there..... It's Parc Expose, so we have an hour to do all this..

No worries, it's all good...... I think I'll head to the washroom for a moment....... then a relaxed dining experience?

_________________"Nos Ludos Intra Vehicula"

"That is on the floor..... in fifth..... 6500????..." -Buffum to Smith (140mph+, Rallye Charlevoix.....)

"A HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FIVE DOLLARS????"

"Great, now we're gonna get frikken' yelled at.....""Let the record show that the evening degenerated at 2022hrs..... Duly noted..."

"Camp Brule" is physically a Hunting and Fishing Camp, on the Petit Caspecadia. They do Guided Salmon fishing, Deer, Moose hunting, lots of outdoor activities.

In Rallying Circles, Camp Brule refers to one very famous corner about 100m from said Camp. The Right-over-bridge-left-sweep-acute-right-uphill that is so densely populated with spectators, they bring their own DJ and Beer Tent.

For more years than I care to count, I've wanted to go there, but on the road side of it. Tonight, we are queued up for the time control to do just that.

Center Brule will launch us into an increasing uphill climb, past a ski hill, with some very sharp corners, some sweepers, lots of elevation change. A 700m to chincane with more grandstands will test your brakes, and your dedication.

Shall we?

_________________"Nos Ludos Intra Vehicula"

"That is on the floor..... in fifth..... 6500????..." -Buffum to Smith (140mph+, Rallye Charlevoix.....)

"A HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FIVE DOLLARS????"

"Great, now we're gonna get frikken' yelled at.....""Let the record show that the evening degenerated at 2022hrs..... Duly noted..."

With the light somewhat diminished due to graying conditions, we are a bit more tentative. The next two stages we will take with a reduction of pace.

The notes are still working well, and the car seems good, but it's tight and technical, with long straights to vary it up. So many well known spectating spots in here. I would love to take time to look back at the crowd, take in the view, soak it all up.... but then we'd not make the finish.....

With that, it's the R3/Bridge L4 R1, Camp Brule itself. I can see Gords hand go for the horn button.... I am somewhat underwhelmed from it all, the concentration and desire to not be the one on the highlight reel who balled up their car in Camp Brule causes me to not enjoy it, and concentrate on the driving...... Yes another benefit of being a codriver? I'm trusting that the notes Gord is reading are from the page, and not made up.....

_________________"Nos Ludos Intra Vehicula"

"That is on the floor..... in fifth..... 6500????..." -Buffum to Smith (140mph+, Rallye Charlevoix.....)

"A HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FIVE DOLLARS????"

"Great, now we're gonna get frikken' yelled at.....""Let the record show that the evening degenerated at 2022hrs..... Duly noted..."

Check everything, get some more water into us..... The sky is dark now. Very dark.

Back in service, it's checking things time. For the first time today, we don't find broken suspension. Praise be for the small things.....

A few years back, 2016 I think it was, we ran Lookoff as a night event. We built a light setup with two hella 500's and two 4000's. They put out light that I was fairly happy with. Technology has moved along these days, and most cars seem to have LED, HID, or some other LED light bar. Personally, I love the classic four round lights. Salute to my first '79 Volvo, or BMW E30.....

Cal was a big help a few weeks before the event. We spent an evening with his Welder and saw, and we made up a far better mount system. We knew the lights would have to go on in a short amount of time. Four bolts and two plugs, and we are wired for enlightenment.

It's time.......

_________________"Nos Ludos Intra Vehicula"

"That is on the floor..... in fifth..... 6500????..." -Buffum to Smith (140mph+, Rallye Charlevoix.....)

"A HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FIVE DOLLARS????"

"Great, now we're gonna get frikken' yelled at.....""Let the record show that the evening degenerated at 2022hrs..... Duly noted..."

To add to the experience, it's now raining. It's 100 percent humidity, and mist hangs in the hollows......

The roads in the Gaspe region have a fair bit of stone, and a lot of clay. The consistency makes the base stand up fairly well all things considered, but allows a very slick inch or two at the top of the road. Something the consistency of Dow Corning #44......

We launch into Center Brule again, and on the first right hand corner, there is a tree in the road. No, I've not too overtired yet and hallucinating, but some earlier car has cut right deeply, and pulled out a fence post from the cattle field on the right. I am now awake. Even more.

This section of road also has the dubious honour of where Daph and James ended their Rally 12 months ago. Some 6 corners into this stage. We had pledged to take it easy, we had but one goal, to finish. We thought we kept everything in check.....

_________________"Nos Ludos Intra Vehicula"

"That is on the floor..... in fifth..... 6500????..." -Buffum to Smith (140mph+, Rallye Charlevoix.....)

"A HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FIVE DOLLARS????"

"Great, now we're gonna get frikken' yelled at.....""Let the record show that the evening degenerated at 2022hrs..... Duly noted..."

A couple of good corners of grip can really lull you into a false sense of security.

It's a L4, with standing water that really bites.... we just simply drift, almost evenly all four, but with slight understeer, towards the outside. We are not more than a few hundred meters from where we spent another rainy night trying to retrieve a car from a year ago. There is no guard rail, no signs.....

The car slows just enough, to not exit the road. Not by skill or good judgement, we manage to stay on the flat bit... The in car should not be repeated to small children, but we have been given our one warning for the day. This event will bite you.

A few corners later, we witness that again, another very clean GC8 build is not so clean anymore. At least we think it's a GC8.... We can see a wing. The rest is buried in foliage.

The stage times will show that we slowed down, and we did. On the trailer was to be our goal, and we really would like to do that.

I catch a few more waves through Brule, but the mud is deep enough now, that I need another downshift to power through the mud. The memories of Sprongl's Audi at full chat is not what we have here this evening.

I'm playing with the lights through the rest of the stage and Preton, but it's hit or miss on whether it's helping. There is just enough ambient left that it seems to do more raindrop illuminating than road lighting.

This is Sub Optimal.

_________________"Nos Ludos Intra Vehicula"

"That is on the floor..... in fifth..... 6500????..." -Buffum to Smith (140mph+, Rallye Charlevoix.....)

"A HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FIVE DOLLARS????"

"Great, now we're gonna get frikken' yelled at.....""Let the record show that the evening degenerated at 2022hrs..... Duly noted..."

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